I have long since moved on from focusing on only levels, but Unreal has always had, and still has, a profound impact on me and everything I make. Over the many years since the heydays of Unreal/UT1 my capabilities and opportunities have widened massively and have allowed me to pursue the same kind of atmosphere and worlds that I used to create in the mod community, but in entire games instead. Seeing how deep you all are into Unreal I figured you might appreciate something that is not an Unreal mod but still has similar roots.

Over the past 2.5 years I have been working on The Solus Project. We just launched part 1 in Early Access on Steam and GOG. Next week Xbox One follows. In 2-3 weeks the content will be more than doubled. This is Unreal Engine 4 (obviously).

The game has major Unreal 1 influences and references. From crashing on an alien planet, to the first view you get when coming out of your crashed ship, to holding a universal translator, to symbols like the Unreal X crucifixes. Hell it even has a Nali skeleton somewhere. The whole atmosphere, the underground temples and buildings, it is all Unreal inspired.

Developer:Hourences/Teotl Studios

Status:Part 1 released, part 2 early March

Synopsis:A single player exploration driven adventure with survival elements, set on a mysterious and seemingly uninhabited alien planet. Survive through exploration, and unlock the mysteries of Gliese-6143-C.

Earth has been destroyed and mankind lingers on in a small fleet of ships near Pluto. As humanity's last hope, you are sent to scout a distant planet as a potential location for a colony. After years of space travel disaster strikes however, and your ship is destroyed when approaching the planet...

With your team members dead and your equipment gone you have no way of communicating or receiving help from anyone... you are completely and utterly alone...

Desperately you look for a way of phoning home, but as you explore the seemingly desolate planet, you uncover the dark secrets buried within the depths. In this otherworldly odyssey you uncover mystery upon mystery as you try to survive the harsh climate.

Features:Explore - Unlock the depths of the uncharted planet, and discover the secrets buried deep below. Delve into huge cave systems and tombs and uncover over 200 secrets. Handcrafted - 10 large entirely handcrafted levels to explore. Explore and puzzle your way through 5 islands and 5 large tombs/caves. Atmosphere - Atmosphere rich environment that is fully dynamic. An alien day and night cycle and a dynamic weather system that calculates everything from temperature, wind, humidity, cloud coverage impact on the climate and so on. It handles ocean tides. Plants respond to the climate. Storms form. Earthquakes happen. Survive - Survive the extreme climate, tornadoes, storms, meteors, lightning, and not least the dark secrets buried beneath the surface.

Well, I have to say it's awesome to see a new post here from someone who has long moved on and yet had such a massive impact on the Unreal/UT community!

The Solus Project sounds really, REALLY cool. I'll play it one day for sure - but given the amount of things going on it'll have to wait a few years. So far I have never been able to start playing a game on the year of its release!

Good luck with the release, Hourences, may it be fulfilling for you and your team!

Nali: Magic or Telekinesis

Waffnuffly wrote:It's tarydium-doped smoothies. Drunk by the player, I mean. The player is tripping balls. The whole game actually takes place in a large city and the player thinks he's on an alien world.

A few months ago I watched a video of the beginning of the Solus Project including the first trailer and I immediately had the impression that this reminds me of Unreal in several ways. When I saw some temple architecture I found it very similar to some structures from ONP. And then I saw the project is led by Hourences!

Congratulations on the release! When I have a better PC (or maybe when the whole game is finished), I definitely have to check it out. It looks very interesting and atmospheric.

Saw the name Hourences, read the post, checked the links and got a warm feeling about the game goals.Viewed a couple of videos on Youtube and thought: hmm this is one game I'ld like to try out.

Unfortunately my PC was built for a heavy workload but not for visual stuff. U and UT run fine (that was a no brainer) but I wasn't planning on any new games so no video card. And it seems there's no demo version so I can't test whether my PC can handle the graphics.